


To Build a Home

by Over_the_Love204



Series: To Build a Home [1]
Category: Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Civil War era, F/M, Gen, Genderswap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-08
Updated: 2012-09-08
Packaged: 2017-11-13 19:58:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/507162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Over_the_Love204/pseuds/Over_the_Love204
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stephanie Salvatore was born premature on a windy day in November, 1847, to parents Giuseppe and Victoire Salvatore in Mystic Falls, Virginia. She had one sibling who was seven years older than she,  a brother called Damon Salvatore.</p><p>The one in which Stefan Salvatore is Stephanie Salvatore. Genderbent Alternative Universe.  Posted on FF.Net as well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Build a Home

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries or anything recognizable.

_"Having a sister is like having a best friend you can't get rid of. You know whatever you do, they'll still be there."_

_-Amy Li_

_._

_._

 .

Stephanie Salvatore was born prematurely on a windy day in November of 1847, to parents Giuseppe and Victoire Salvatore in Mystic Falls, Virginia.  She had a single sibling who was seven years older than she, called Damon Salvatore.

The night Stephanie was born was cold with an uncommon snow blowing in the winds. The citizens of Mystic Falls were stunned by the early snowfall in an area where snow wasn't exactly common to start with, and they whispered about blizzards.  But Damon Salvatore, while normally quite enraptured with snow, was uncharacteristically subdued.  He lurked around the edge of his mother's bedroom door, peeking inside as his mother moaned with pain.  The midwife's tawny blond head had disappeared at the end of the bed. Damon's nanny, a kindly young black woman, took notice of Damon and quickly ushered the little boy away from the room.  Twisting his neck slightly, Damon was able to see the door shut behind him with a soft but firm click.

"Damon Salvatore."  His nanny pursed her lips as she chastised her young charge.  "Just what do you think you're doing?  Men, including you, are to stay away from the birthing room."

Feeling quite like this was a great injustice, Damon stuck out his bottom lip. "I just want to meet my new brother."  

His nanny sighed, but her brief anger melted.  She ruffled Damon's thick, curly dark hair. "It might be a little sister," She reminded him, but Damon scrunched up his nose.  Gross, he thought crossly.  What good was a little sister, anyway?

"But I want a brother," He said stubbornly. "Someone who'll play with me and ride horses and to chase Mr. Gilbert's daughter when she's mean to me."  That girl was always giggling at him and tripping him when they crossed paths.

Damon's nanny smiled, her lips tugging up in the corners. "Well, I'll have you know that girls can be just as much fun, Damon Salvatore.  Either way, I'm sure you'll be a wonderful big brother, Mister Salvatore."  Damon still didn't feel particularly fond of the idea of a sister but he didn't want to disappoint to his mother, who would surely be very upset if he didn't at least pretend to like whatever sibling he got.

So, with obvious great reluctance, he said, "I . . . guess a little sister wouldn't be so bad."

"I thought you'd come 'round," His nanny said.  Heavy steps echoed down the hall and Damon jerked his head to the side to see Father stomping toward him.

"Come along, Damon, the baby's been born.  Quickly, now, let us go."  He dismissed Damon's nanny without a second glance, but Damon hugged the woman hurriedly before following his father back down the hall to his mother. The Salvatore men walked into the room after the midwife opened the door quietly, putting a finger to her lips.

"It's a girl," She whispered.  "But she's a slip of a thing and Mrs. Salvatore's exhausted."  Th heavy lines around her face tightened for brief moment, but she turned away before Damon had the opportunity to ask her if something was wrong.  Meanwhile, Father nodded and put his hand on Damon's shoulder.  In the large canopy bed that sat in the center of the room, Mother laid still with a small bundle in her arms, beaming. She looked up at her husband and son as Damon crawled up into the bed next to her.  Sweat was beading down her face and her hair seemed to be dripping with the perspiration. 

"I'm going to name her Stephanie," Mother murmured.  She looked down at Damon's sister - Stephanie, he supposed - who was wrapped up snugly in her arms, and then to Damon.  He inched closer to them.

"Stephanie Salvatore," Father said proudly.  He came and sat on Mother's other side and bent forward.  Damon lifted a finger, checked for the day's griminess, and poked Stephanie's cheek gently.

"She's all soft," He observed.  "And really little."  He frowned.  She was too little to play any games and certainly too little be any kind of fun.

"Damon," Father said, and Damon looked across Mother to him.

"Yes, father?"  He picked at Mother's soft bedding with his fingers, but met his father's eyes.

"I want you to promise you'll protect your sister, no matter what."  The man's face was lined, and his sharp eyes intent on Damon's.

"I promise," Damon said.  "I'll watch over Stephanie.."

Mother sighed happily, and baby Stephanie gurgled in her arms.

.

.

.

_1856_

Ten year old Stephanie Salvatore trailed after her big brother, her large, curious eyes wide.  Damon's hand large was wrapped around hers, despite her protests that she was ten, about to be eleven, and that she didn't need him to hold her hand like she was a baby.  

"Where're we goin', Damon?" Stephanie asked.  She looked down at her shoes and scuffed them in the dirt.  Her dress was too long for her liking, and it was already getting holes in its bottom hem.  Her knees were scraped and raw from the tumble she'd taken earlier when she had been wrestling the Forbes boy for making fun of the gap in her mouth from where she'd lost a late baby tooth.

"We're going to go pick some flowers for Jonathan Gilbert's daughter," Damon said.  "You know, those pretty ones she likes?"  His voice had taken on that dreamily quality it did whenever he talked about the Gilbert girl.  

Stephanie frowned. "The ones that only grow on the Lockwood's property?"  Those flowers were awfully nice, but she didn't think it was worth it to get some dumb flowers if they would just get into trouble later with Father.

"Those are the ones," Damon agreed.

"But . . . we're not supposed to go over there without Father," Stephanie said, anxiously tugging on one of the hastily made braids Damon had shoved her hair into.  Usually Mother or her nanny did it, but both had been busy with other housework and she was too impatient to wait - she wanted to go out with Damon.

"What Father doesn't know, won't hurt him." Damon winked slyly and smile lit up Stephanie's face.  The two Salvatore's continued down the dirt road and made it to the Lockwood property at a leisurely pace.

"Okay, Steph, here's what you have to do," Damon said, stopping and putting his large hands on Stephanie's scrawny shoulders.  "I'm going to go and pick the flowers, and you're going to be the lookout. Can you do that?"

Steph bobbed her head eagerly. "Uh huh."  

"Now, if you see someone," Damon said, eyebrows furrowed in thought, "whistle like this." He whistled a soft but piercing tune. "Ready?"

"Ready," Steph said seriously.  She watched Damon slink through the hedge and head over to the Lockwood's extensive garden, while Steph stood high on her tippy toes.  She kept her eyes open for any of Lockwood's to appear.  They all kind of looked alike with their scruffy hair and beards; even the kids' had some hair on their faces!

"What in the hell are you doing?" A voice yelled, and Steph whirled around faster than she thought was physically possible.  Behind her was Jonathan Gilbert's other child, a son that was twenty years old, and his best friend, George Lockwood, who was eighteen. The Lockwood boy looked furious, but the Gilbert boy was merely curious.

"Um . . ." Steph clasped her hands behind her back and stuttered around for few moments.  Her gaze darted from side to side.

"Well?" The Lockwood boy had a horrible temper around this time of the month for some odd reason, Steph knew, but he was usually a mild mannered young man.  "What are you doing, lurking around my yard?"  His mustache - something he was very vocally proud of - quivered with his lips.  She bit down on her bottom lip to keep from giggling.  He clenched his fists at his sides and Stephanie was quickly reminded that laughing would be a very bad idea right now.  Stephanie swallowed thickly and raised two of her fingers to her lips and whistled. The sound was long and sharp, drawing the attention of a few woodland animals before scaring them off.

"What in the world . . . ?" George started forward and grabbed Steph's arm roughly. The Gilbert boy stepped up and shouted for George to let go, but Lockwood was having none of it.

"Who's with you?" He growled.

"Me!" George looked up in time to get his mouth punched by Damon's rapidly speeding fist. Steph ducked out of George's grip and lifted her thick dress skirts as she ran a bit of a ways away, watching Damon beat the Lockwood boy into the ground.

"Don't you ever touch my sister again!" Damon snarled and Steph heard a heard the distinctive crunch of a nose's cartilage.  Damon glared at the Gilbert boy, but he just lifted his hands and stepped away.

"I don't condone his actions, Damon," He said, and Damon nodded before stalking towards Stephanie.

"Come on, Steph," Damon held out his hand which Stephanie gratefully took. He squeezed and asked, "Did he hurt you?"  Stephanie thought that she might have a ring of purpling bruises around her upper arm, but there was no way she was going to tell him that.

"I'm fine."

"Good," Damon said, flashing Stephanie a small smile.

She smiled back. "What about your flowers?"

"Eh, Jonathan Gilbert's daughter isn't _that_ pretty."

.

.

.

_1864_

Stephanie waited impatiently on the steps of the Salvatore home, fidgeting in her voluminous green dress. Her light brown hair was done up elaborately, piled high onto her head. She was a small teenager; at maybe 5' 2" and slim, she wasn't intimidating anyone.  Stephanie fidgeted again.  Finally, a carriage pulled up and a black maid stepped out, and helped a slim white woman out after her.  The girl had dark hair and a pale beauty that was enchanting.  She walked with an air of grace about her that was enviable, and she wore a dress even more voluminous that Stephanie's.  Inwardly, Steph wondered how on God's green earth she could even move in something that tight and so very large.

"Hello," Steph greeted, curtsying.  "I'm Stephanie Salvatore. My father is regretfully doing some business in his office and my older brother is away in the war, so I am here to greet you properly.  Welcome to our home."  She carefully did not choke up as she mentioned Damon.  She missed him like he was one of her limbs – a part of her and necessary.

"I'm Katherine Pierce."  The girl smiled pleasantly.  It was a nice smile.  "It's so good to meet you, Stephanie. I think we'll have a great time together during my stay with your family."

"It is regretful that your family passed in that fire in Atlanta, Miss Pierce."  

Katherine tilted her head, and her face scrunched up into a mournful expression.  "Yes, it is. I shall miss them with all of my heart. But I'm sure that you must feel the same, what with your brother gone in the war, and your mother passed."

Steph's lips pressed together. "Yes, I guess you're right, Miss Pierce."  The reminder of her mother stung, while the wound of Damon's absence was a constant ache.

Katherine quirked the side of her lip, her bereavement seemingly forgotten. "Call me Katherine."

"Steph, then," Stephanie said.  "Shall I show you the room where you'll be staying?"

"That would be lovely."  Katherine smiled.  "Lead the way, Steph."

.

.

.

Stephanie had shown Katherine to her bed chambers and had wanted to quickly leave and forget about her burning curiosity about Katherine.  Her guest had other ideas.

"Steph, come sit with me."  Katherine smiled, her dark eyes dancing in the candlelight.  "Let's have a girl to girl talk." Stephanie warily picked up her skirts and walked over to Katherine's bed and sat down next to her.  The guest bedroom had one of the softest beds in the house, for Father was always courteous to his guests.

"Emily."  Katherine raised her voice, and Stephanie turned her head and spotted the lovely dark maid she'd seen earlier.  "You're excused."  Emily nodded and left the room as quietly as a ghost.  Even her shoes didn't make a sound on the wood floor.

"You must be lonely," Katherine said suddenly in the ensuing quiet.  Her dark eyes were piercing as they searched Stephanie's gaze.

"Excuse me?" Stephanie asked, eyebrows rising in surprise.  She wasn't sure what to do with Katherine's frankness. 

"You must be lonely being the only Salvatore girl," Katherine said clarified.  "No sisters to watch over, no husband or children to take care of."  Her lips curled up into a private smile.

"Oh, no," Stephanie said.  "My mother was too weak to have anymore children, and I dare say my father would have preferred more boys even if they could have had more children."  Without her hair down to fiddle with, she tangled her fingers together in her lap so as to have them occupied.  "I'm okay for now without a husband, as well, to be perfectly honest.  I'm not ready to leave home."

 

Katherine nodded and thankfully changed the subject. "Do you have any friends in the town to introduce me to?"

Stephanie had to keep herself from saying that all the girls in Mystic Falls that she was allowed to spend time with were shallow and dimwitted, and that she much preferred climbing trees with Damon to sitting around with the girls Father had approved of.

"A few friends," Stephanie settled on saying.  "None so close as to waste our time with at the moment."  Something in Katherine's eyes flashed, and her smile this time seemed more real, as if she had read Stephanie's mind.

"Steph," Katherine said, "I think we'll be good friends.  Sisters, almost."  And Stephanie almost believed her.

.

.

.

The day Damon came home on leave was one that Katherine and Stephanie were out in the garden. Her father was discussing business with the town council at the Gilbert home. When she'd asked about it, Giuseppe had smiled kindly and kissed the top of her head.  "Now, now, Stephanie. That's men business – nothing for a beauty like you to worry about."  As soon as his back was turned, Stephanie made a face. "'A beauty like you,'" She scoffed and stomped - very unladylike, she pointed out to herself in her own head - to the garden and had found Katherine there.

"Are there any boys you fancy?" Katherine asked her, a teasing smile on her lips as they walked through the hedges.  Though Katherine didn't so much as walk as dance.

"No one in particular," Stephanie said and made herself think of something else besides elegance of the way Katherine moved.

"Oh?" Katherine's tone was curious. "I find boys . . . delightful.  They're so fun to tease."

"I'm unsure if it is just Mystic Falls' boys are the entire gender in general, but I've yet to find a gentlemen I'd like to marry," Stephanie said and then immediately flushed.  She looked around to make sure no one had heard her speak - there was no reason to have someone start rumors about in town.  Father wouldn't appreciate his family's reputation to be tarnished by the rumor mill of Mystic Falls.  "Though my father has been searching for suitor since I turned sixteen."  She made a face at the thought of being tied down and kept barefoot and pregnant like a good housewife.

"I remember my father doing that." Katherine said nothing of what Stephanie had said.  "But I'll let you in on a secret."

Intrigued, Stephanie leaned forward. "What is it?"

"I fell in love," Katherine whispered, her breath on Steph's ear. "We . . . well, I'm certainly not a maiden anymore. There was a child."

Steph's eyes widened and she leaned away from Katherine, "No! Truly?" The news was scandalous. "Does my father know?" Stephanie couldn't see her father still agreeing to take Katherine in, despite her unsavory . . . tendencies.

"Of course not," Katherine dismissed. Her head tilted to the side, and her dark eyes seemed to see something at the other side of the courtyard.

Steph followed her gaze and nearly squealed with delight. "Damon!"  She ran to his side, hiking up her ridiculously heavy skirts as she did so.

"Hello, sister!" Damon's smile was as wide as his spread arms when he enveloped Stephanie into a tight hug.

"I've missed you," Stephanie said quietly.  She buried her face into the crook of his neck and breathed in his scent.

"I missed you too, Steph." She could tell the moment that Damon caught sight of Katherine. His arms loosened around her, and he twirled Steph to stand next to him. "And who is your enchanting friend?"

"This is Katherine," Stephanie introduced.  "Her family died in a fire in Atlanta. Father's taken her in for an indefinite amount of time."

Damon leaned down and kissed Katherine's hand and the other girl giggled a high tinkling laugh. Steph rolled her eyes.  All girls fell for her brother's charms.

"I'll be in the den," Steph said, "And do watch out, Katherine. My brother's a bit of a ladies' man." Her eyes cut to her friend. There was a warning in them; on't mess around with my brother, or you'll have me to deal with.  Katherine only smirked.

.

.

.

Stephanie found out Katherine was a vampire on a day like any other.  Damon and her father had been arguing loudly, their voices nearly shaking the house's foundations. She'd read and then written a bit in her journal.  She caught Katherine feeding in town behind a Jonathan Gilbert's store.  Before she could scream, Katherine was behind her and putting a hand across Stephanie's mouth to quiet her.  Steph bit Katherine's hand, but the other girl only laughed.

"Come now, Steph," Katherine whispered into her ear.  "You just saw me drain that man of blood. You think that biting me is going to make me let you go?"

Stephanie started to struggle viciously, kicking and thrashing in Katherine's arms to no avail. The dark headed girl took off at speeds faster than Steph could comprehend to the woods, where she deposited Steph to the ground.

She landed on a bed of leaves and other foliage. "Oof!" She sucked in a breath and started to scream a loudly as she could.  Her heart was racing in her throat and she could only see Katherine's needle sharp teeth buried in that man's throat in her mind's eye.

"Shh!" Katherine hissed and knelt in front of Steph.  Meeting her gaze, she commanded, "You're going to stop screaming and trying to get people to notice you're missing."

Stephanie felt her mouth close and her screams die off.  Her heart continued to race though; katherine had just told her to do something, she'd done it, no questions asked!  "You're – you're one of those demons Father's talked about.  How can you make me - make me do things I don't want?"

Katherine quirked an eyebrow. "It's called compulsion.  And I thought you weren't allowed into those meetings."

"Damon's good for other stuff besides kissing, not that you'd know," Stephanie said, then thought about her brother. "Oh, God. You've been feeding from him, haven't you!" It wasn't a question so much as an accusation.  

"Calm down," Katherine said and Steph felt her breathing even out again. "Damon knows what's going on. He's in this of his own accord, you know.  He knows I'm a vampire."

Stephanie started to hyperventilate again. "How – how could he do this? It's everything Father's against-"

"Oh, and you're the perfect little Daddy's princess, are you?  I've seen where your eyes wander, Stephanie Salvatore." Katherine smirked. Her dark eyes probed Steph's and Stephanie noticed when Katherine's pupils enlarged this time. "You're not afraid of me. You know I'm a vampire and you're not afraid at all. We will continue as everything was before. I have plans for us, Stephanie," Katherine said.  "Plans for you, me, _and_ Damon.  We'll travel the world.  Won't that make Damon happy?  He'll have the love of his life and his baby sister to protect, and I'll have my two favorite Salvatore's with me always.  And maybe one day I'll let you have what _you_ want."  All fear of Katherine melted away into nothing and Stephanie felt herself smiling and nodding along with Katherine. Her plans sounded completely plausible.  Good, even.

"Here you go, open up," Katherine said and took a bite out of her wrist, letting the blood run freely.  Steph's mouth opened of its own accord, though her eyes were wide at the sight of blood. She'd always been a bit squeamish.  Katherine put her wrist to Stephanie's mouth.

"Swallow, sweet girl.  Just swallow."

.

.

.

Damon found out about Stephanie knowing about Katherine shortly after her discovery, but Katherine had told her not to tell Damon about the blood exchange, using her compulsion.  So she said nothing.  Damon was alright with Stephanie knowing about his girlfriend as long as she swore to not tell their father about it – so like the many secrets Stephanie found herself keeping, she locked it away and threw out the key.

.

.

.

Time passed the vampires existence in Mystic Falls became more wildly known, causing Stephanie to attempt to persuade her father that not all vampires were horrid creatures. Thinking she'd gotten through to him, Steph went and met up with Katherine later that evening.  Everything went to hell in a hand basket, starting with Katherine drinking Stephanie's blood and falling to floor with a seizure.  The hours after that were a blur in Stephanie's mind, staring with Katherine looking up at her with betrayed eyes and ended with a gunshot wound to the gut.

Then she woke up.

.

.

.

Stephanie sat up gasping for breath, her lungs expanding and contracting faster than air could get inside.  Damon was at her side in an instant, calming her racing heart by rubbing her back soothingly.

"Hey, hey, Steph, it's okay.  Stephanie, listen to me," Damon's words were there, but so were all these memories about things Katherine made her forget, things Katherine made her believe, and things Katherine made her feel.  

"Are we vampires?" Stephanie whispered.  She raised a shaking hand to her face.

"No," Damon said, relieved that she was responding.  "No, we're not vampires. And we don't have to be, Steph. We can choose not to. It's not worth it if Katherine's dead."

Before she knew what she was doing, Stephanie tore out of Damon's grip, standing. "It's all about Katherine, is it?" She didn't know what was wrong with Damon. "She compelled me, and you're still in love with her?"

Damon stared at her with shock. "She . . . Katherine compelled you?" He was frozen.

"Yes! She compelled me to be okay with everything, and to-to-to drink her blood and let her take mine.  I'm glad that bitch is dead!  I knew there was something off with her when she came to Mystic Falls." Steph sat down heavily, breathing roughly. She'd known there was something wrong with her, but she'd brushed aside her instincts because what?  Katherine was beautiful and had a convincing sob story?  She looked down at her neck and felt a lapis lazuli ring in her throat's hollow, hanging by a silver chain.

"Just like Katherine's."  She whispered savagely.

"I didn't know," Damon said as he scooted over to her. "I didn't realize, Stephanie. I – Katherine compelled me sometimes too."

"But you chose this, didn't you?" Steph asked, the bite gone from her voice now despite everything.

"Yes," Damon said. "She didn't have to compel me for that."

They sat in stifling silence for a few moments, until Stephanie stood. "I'm going to say good-bye to Father, Damon. I'll be back."

"We'll watch our last sunset together," Damon offered, his blue eyes piercing her. "Do you want me to go with you?"

"No. No, I'm going by myself," Stephanie said, brushing off her dress. "Unless, of course you want to say good-bye as well . . .?"

Damon snorted. "The old man's probably just fine without me, Steph. Let's be honest with ourselves – Father hated me and adored you. End of story."

"That's not true," Stephanie said, frowning.

"It's not?" Damon scoffed cynically.

"Please, Damon," Stephanie said. "Come with me." Her eyelashes fluttered over her bright green eyes, and Damon sighed. He never could resist anything his baby sister wanted.  They went to their home quickly walked to Giuseppe's office to see the man at his desk. When the elder Salvatore saw his children, he stood quickly.

"Dear God," He said with alarm.  "You're one of them now," Their father said, coming around the desk slowly.  His eyes slid between the two siblings. "You both are."  Damon was content to let Steph talk.

"No, father, we've come to say good-bye."

"I watched you die," Giuseppe said.  "I watched both of you die.  I know that you have to die and then you rise as demons.  Don't tell me you're not one of them!"

Steph felt a frown pull at her face. "You were there when we were - when we were shot?" She stuttered a lit, hurt. Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes.

Voice hard, Giuseppe said, "I pulled the triggers myself."

Devastated, Stephanie asked, "You killed your own children?"

"You bastard," Damon hissed.  His fists clenched at his sides.

"You were both dead to me the moment you sided with the vampires," Giuseppe lashed out, "I only thank God that your mother isn't alive to see the disgrace you've brought-"

Stephanie was already shaking her head before their father was finishing speaking, "We haven't turned yet! We're going to let ourselves die, Father please!"

"That's right. You are!" Giuseppe grabbed something from behind his desk and broke it across his knee. He grabbed the piece of wood and went at Damon first.

"No!" Steph shouted, shoving their father out of the way and into the wall. "Don't hurt him!"  Damon turned wide eyes to his little sister and then a smell hit his nose.   _Blood._  He gravitated towards their father, drawn in by the potent smell. Damon knelt on the ground next to Giuseppe and saw the wood stuck through their father's chest.

"Oh, the irony," Damon murmured.

"Damon . . . ?"  Stephanie hesitantly started.  He didn't hear her.

"Get away from me," Giuseppe growled.  Damon was entranced with the scent and ripped the piece of wood out of his father's chest, making Giuseppe scream.

"Damon!" Steph rushed to her brother's side, but Damon was already touching bloodied fingers to his lips. Stephanie's eyes rounded to the size of saucers as Damon cried out in pain and his eyes turned black. Veins ran down his face around his eyes.

"Damon?" Stephanie asked. She reached out her hands towards her brother and father. Damon grabbed Giuseppe and bit his neck, making Stefan scrabble backwards.

Giuseppe's eyes fluttered closed and Damon let him drop to the floor with a thud. Damon turned to Stephanie and saw her horrified face. Instantly, the veins disappeared and his beloved blue eyes cleared.

"Steph, Steph, come here," Damon approached Stephanie and she forced herself not to flinch. "Do you trust me?" He reached out a bloodstained hand.  Stephanie looked between her dead father and her vampire brother.

She took Damon's hand.

.

.

.

tbc


End file.
